going toy free?

[tori4]

Hi, love the idea of toy free and have naturally seem to go this way recently. However my Q is how do ofsted feel abt this?

I am due anytime soon and have been doing my research into recent local reports to see things that have come up and although I can't remember the exact wording there was one comment abt not having enough toys to 'challenge' the child's learning.

I have def found the children have been much more involved in the resources I now provide aswell as the few 'toys' still available. Think I have my argument ready for ofsted but just wondered if anyone had already had any feed back from them.

xT

[VeggieSausage]

If a child likes playing with something then it is a toy to them I think, doesn't have to be brightly coloured and plastic to capture a child's imagination....you could mention that to Ofsted....

[Dragonfly]

I don't think I could get rid of my toys I have 14 children through out the week ranging from 7 months to 14years no young children of my own (grown up) and over the year most of the toys in the house and shed get played with, obviously not every week.What worries me is reading Sarahs thread, I have toy camera's, old mobiles, toy laptop but mine do not have a real computer to go onI'm quite anti tech as i don't understand it all and can't afford computers for the mindee's anyway.

[Mouse]

If a child likes playing with something then it is a toy to them I think, doesn't have to be brightly coloured and plastic to capture a child's imagination....you could mention that to Ofsted....

That's so very true.

At the moment my mindees love the wooden mug tree with either wooden or coloured bangles to hang on it. There's so much learning going on - counting, colour recognition, colour sorting, sharing, experimenting (how many bancles can fit on each arm), physical development etc etc.

It's not a toy as such, but it is to the children. I'm sure Ofsted would see that it provides as much, if not more, challenges that a mass produced 'toy'.

[LauraS]

Something to be aware of - when you read Ofsted inspection reports inspectors are often picking one area of learning and looking at resource provision.

If they find it lacking in available resources for all ages of children they are giving it as an action on reports and mentioning it in reports.

I've seen a few recently which makes me think this is something they are focussing on at the moment

Funny you should say that, and funny loocyloo suggested technology too - thus was exactly my experience. Luckily one of my mindees in particular is keen on this so had lots and lots in her lj. So then Mrs O asked about maths provision instead lol.

[lizduncan72]

Funny you should say that, and funny loocyloo suggested technology too - thus was exactly my experience. Luckily one of my mindees in particular is keen on this so had lots and lots in her lj. So then Mrs O asked about maths provision instead lol.

You're never going to win against Mrs O!! She'll always find something

[tori4]

That's so very true.

At the moment my mindees love the wooden mug tree with either wooden or coloured bangles to hang on it. There's so much learning going on - counting, colour recognition, colour sorting, sharing, experimenting (how many bancles can fit on each arm), physical development etc etc.

It's not a toy as such, but it is to the children. I'm sure Ofsted would see that it provides as much, if not more, challenges that a mass produced 'toy'.

I love the wooden mug tree idea I saw it in on early post, def on the look out for one -

[ChocolateChip]

This is a great thread, it is inspiring me to have a clear out too, goodness knows I need the room as the attic is groaning with 'spare' toys, lol! Some lovely ideas on here, thanks everyone!

[phoenix2010]

Ive just had a big clear out , Im not entirely toy free but Ive got rid of about three quarters of my toys

I now have
Large box of Happyland
Large dressing up box
Technology box, old phones, calculators , voice recorder , baby monitors , heart rate monitors etc
Sensory box, fabrics, textures , rocks , shells , pine cones, bag of lavender etc
Treasure basket , wood and metal items
2 dolls, buggy and accessories
box of books
box of puzzles
play dough tools , we make our own dough on the day
small box of cars
small box of animals
wooden letters and numbers ,for games , to draw around and sort
small box of insects and tweezers
craft box
kitchen accessories to go with play kitchen
messy play tray for sand , water , sensory and messy play
large double sided easel for painting drawing and chalking


it still seems like alot but it really is the very minimum I think they need in order to meet all the EYFS areas

It all stacks neatly in the corner in boxes and ive reclaimed my sons bedroom for him where I was storing all the toys

My plan originally was to go entirely toy free , but I soon realised i would have to begrudgingly hang on to some plastic , they do love the Happyland stuff

I do need to get musical instruments , then I think Im done

[loocyloo]

Ive just had a big clear out , Im not entirely toy free but Ive got rid of about three quarters of my toys

I now have
Large box of Happyland
Large dressing up box
Technology box, old phones, calculators , voice recorder , baby monitors , heart rate monitors etc
Sensory box, fabrics, textures , rocks , shells , pine cones, bag of lavender etc
Treasure basket , wood and metal items
2 dolls, buggy and accessories
box of books
box of puzzles
play dough tools , we make our own dough on the day
small box of cars
small box of animals
wooden letters and numbers ,for games , to draw around and sort
small box of insects and tweezers
craft box
kitchen accessories to go with play kitchen
messy play tray for sand , water , sensory and messy play
large double sided easel for painting drawing and chalking


it still seems like alot but it really is the very minimum I think they need in order to meet all the EYFS areas

It all stacks neatly in the corner in boxes and ive reclaimed my sons bedroom for him where I was storing all the toys

My plan originally was to go entirely toy free , but I soon realised i would have to begrudgingly hang on to some plastic , they do love the Happyland stuff

I do need to get musical instruments , then I think Im done

well done !!!

i have pared mine back, but i have lots of puzzles, but only 1 or 2 of each type ( 4 piece lift out, 10piece lift out, 2 piece 'jigsaw' 4 piece etc etc! ) and lots of games.
i also have lots of different sensory bits stored away! i also have box of duplo & box of trains.

my only question would be, do you need 3 dolls? in case you have 3 LOs who all want a doll?!

[phoenix2010]

they seem to manage with 2 and sometimes one of my sons teddies gets dressed up and joins in lol , i suppose in an ideal world when i have 3 or 4 children , they would each have a dolly and each have a pushchair , but that would defeat the object of trying to gain some space

[SandCastles]

This is a great thread, it is inspiring me to have a clear out too, goodness knows I need the room as the attic is groaning with 'spare' toys, lol! Some lovely ideas on here, thanks everyone!

Exactly the same, I go up two flights of stairs to reach my storage and rotate boxes frequntly, but was wondering if I can lose 50% of my toys and gain 50% floor space, I will be doing it slowly throughout the year and maybe opening an ebay account to sell items.

[little chickee]

I'm not exactly going toy free but have drastically reduced to amount of toys I have on offer.
Everything went up into the attic for the 2 weeks I was closed over Xmas and I just took down 1 box of Duplo and 1box with the Brio.
I have left the toy kitchen out too.

3 mindees aged 3, 2 and 18 months played perfectly happily with them for the 3 days I have them.
I also had out a smallish cardboard box ( big enough for 1 child, 2 at a squeeze) and that is mostly what they played with.

I'm going to change round the boxes tonight swapping for a box of plastic and wooden toddler toys and the buggies and dollies.
Thats it!!

Its working so far. On top of toddlers, soft play and 3yo attending playgroup 2 days a week it seems to be fine!

[RainbowDrops]

Glad you posted actually handy to read the responses. We have a wooden kitchen and a wooden shop, a big box of brio, a box of different blocks, a small box with some plastic cars. A couple of wooden and crochet baby rattles, some different plastic animal figures and some open ended wooden toys like grimms rainbow etc. and lots of art and craft bits

In the garden we have a little tikes plastic slide and cozy coupe, a plastic smart trike, 10ft trampoline with enclosure and a little fenced in area with buckets, kids trowels, rakes, flower pots, wind chimes, pinwheels etc

I was wondering if I was going to need to go out and buy a lot of plastic noisy/flashy toys but I think I'll be ok!

I think I'll get a couple of dolls and pram, and some puzzles. I'll think about what else I might need.

[wellybelly]

I keep all my old tech, like phones, both mobile and landline, remotes, webcams, cameras, mouse/mouses/mice?, play station controllers etc. I remove all wires, and battery cells etc and dump them in the toy box. The kids would much rather play with something real, even if it doesn't work, than a big chunky babyish plastic pretend tech. It is pretty awesome sitting listening to a toddler chat on the phone to his dad in afghanistan, or turning the TV on to mickey mouse (in their heads lol), or taking pics of their mates. All my boys know which are MY remotes/phones/tech and they know that hell needs to freeze over and the oceans boil etc etc before they can touch MY tech, but that's okay cos they have their own .

Not anything to do with the initial question I know, but this is a way to introduce tech into the setting, without it being toys. I have to say though, I do firmly believe there is a place for toys, and children should be shown how to play with them. Boring and tedious I know, but it needs to be done. Children don't actually know how to play with toys unless they are taught.

What toys exactly are you looking to get rid of?

I have small world, cars, construction, instruments, books (which I keep in a tub on the sofa and that IS where they stay), I have a writing area, some home play stuff, some dressing up, and some pieces of cloth for them to use as they will. I try, try, try, to have an invitation to play, or science activity, or learning activity each day. I also for part of the day have table top toys out - jigsaws, lacing, counters, magnadoodle and the like. These are all mixed in with soft toys, the odd bead frame, dolls, and a couple of other toys. I can't actually think of any toys that I would get rid of.

The bigger kids have a 3 drawer unit of toys, the like you get at macdonalds I guess. They have action men, super hero figures and those type of toys, and cars, marble runs...I guess most of my toys are actually open ended.

Wow you lot are fab! Ok so after reading this thread, I haven't gone entirely toy free, but I have made a Technology box! Thanks so much for the inspiration. I found an extreamly old ( and large) laptop (minus the battery) under the bed. Some old landline telephones (wires removed), some very basic old style mobile phones and a camera.

[chriss]

I must say I can't really get my head around the "very few toys" thing. Where and why did this all start ?

[lilac_dragon]

I don't think I could get rid of my toys I have 14 children through out the week ranging from 7 months to 14years no young children of my own (grown up) and over the year most of the toys in the house and shed get played with, obviously not every week.What worries me is reading Sarahs thread, I have toy camera's, old mobiles, toy laptop but mine do not have a real computer to go onI'm quite anti tech as i don't understand it all and can't afford computers for the mindee's anyway.

I have an old computer in my upstairs office, which is out of bounds to children. We have my old laptop which died so is in the techno box. We don't have a working one for the children and i'm not prepared to buy one ofr them i'm afraid

[CAZMCA]

I've been drastically reducing my toys over the past few months, I have very few plastic toys now and my toddler toys all have learning links my 10mth old dd got a set of musical instruments for Xmas from us they are the Melissa and Doug ones and she loves them! Next fav in my house is def the sensory basket especially with the older ones (who said they were for babies eh?) need more techs stuff got old calc remote and phone and I've also started collecting boxes and plastic bottles etc for open ended junk modelling play

[Maza]

I have decided to stop focusing on the fact that I am getting rid of toys and am instead realising that by doing so I am 'giving them the gift of space'. x

[phoenix2010]

Since my clear out the children have been back 2 weeks , so far, so good and i havnt even been to the toy library

they have mainly had all the Happyland stuff out and the kitchen, dolls and buggys , and the dressing up clothes , plus the large Easel

we had some cardboard boxes left over from xmas which they have turned into planes , trains and boats

they have been using their imagination more and interacting with each other more too , plus i can actually see the floor as there isnt so much to tidy up

without any prompting what so ever they have been super heroes , mummys and daddys , policemen, chefs and doctors and they have been on a boat to a treasure island , its lovely to watch actually

ive rotated the happyland with the technology box and we have been to 3 groups , soft play once and had a couple of craft activities

Ive just ordered some threading and lacing wooden toys and some sound toys , microphones, cd player , noise makers , so we are getting there

I havnt felt that they are missing out on anything , in fact its been a great improvement , plus less squabbles over toys and more space to play in